Southern hospitality

By Haley Thompkins columnist

When Syracuse University assigned me to live on South Campus, I spent the summer with a pit in my stomach. I saw people cringe when I told them where I would be sophomore year. South seemed like the most avoided, desolate place to live on Syracuse University’s campus.

Before room selection, I heard about all of South’s negatives: its distance from campus, the lack of solidarity without living in shared spaces and burglaries.

I had the same thoughts rushing through my head. And unfortunately, with SU’s lack of main campus student housing for sophomores coupled with a 2-year on campus living requirement, I was stuck on South.

When I first moved into my apartment, it didn’t feel like home. The space was so large that the items from my previous dorm couldn’t fill the emptiness. I felt disconnected from my friends on main campus, and isolated from the university as a whole. But as the bonds with the people who lived around me began to strengthen and memories were made, there is no place else that feels more like home.

As my time on South comes to a close, I’ve realized that living here has taught me about who I am not only as a student, but as a person. So here’s what I’ve learned this year.

Transportation began as one of my most pressing concerns. Being from Los Angeles, I don’t have the luxury of having a car on-campus. But by taking the bus multiple times a week, I quickly learned to effectively manage my time. There’s no room for procrastination in the mornings when buses arrive every fifteen minutes. The rides themselves gave me time alone with my thoughts to reflect on either the day ahead or the day past.

I never felt alone though; I always had a sense of community on the bus because there were other people who were in the same situation as me.

The biggest surprise that came with living on South Campus was the calm. I’ve learned to appreciate the quiet and beauty on South, as well as Syracuse in general and learned independence along the way.

My roommate and I shared our own kitchen, bathroom and living room, and each had our own bedrooms. At the end of the busy days we’ve had, it’s been a blessing to have our own space to decompress. But our apartment is our little oasis from the outside world. We became best friends and truly became each other’s family. By living on the bottom unit, we also had easy access to the outside which has come in handy with the recent gorgeous weather. Our space has become entirely ours. It’s our home.

Given the structure of South Campus, — with the majority of residents living in two or three person apartments instead of thirty people to a floor — I knew I could be losing the sense of community I loved freshman year. But, South forced me to connect with the people around me in ways I never expected.

Ella Johns, a current resident of South Campus, has a “no knock policy” with her friend group, which keeps them close even without living on the same floor.

“Our doors are always open and our friends are always coming in and out. This happens so often that when someone knocks it stresses us out,” she said.

Johns joked about how living on South turned her friend group into a sitcom, with a revolving door of the same people. After already being close from freshman year, they were able to deepen their friendships by living with each other in a new setting.

I became best friends with the people that I met here. We made dinners and recapped our days in each other’s living rooms. We held gettogethers with all of our friends to throw housewarming parties and decorated our apartments for the holidays. I found a homeyness here that I haven’t experienced anywhere else. Finding a unique community made my year living on South, what I thought to be the most desolate place at SU, comforting in ways beyond belief.

So if you’re like me, and you’re nervous about where you’re living as a sophomore, remember that life is what you make it. As I look back on the year, I have learned to stretch my limits of comfort. I’ve found my home on South.

Haley Thompkins is a sophomore acting major. Her column appears bi-weekly, She can be reached at hkthompk@syr.edu.

By Timmy Wilcox staff writer

Locked at five in double overtime against Electric City, Syracuse club lacrosse got a much needed stop. In transition, Christian Margita moved down the alley, dodging defenders. Margita approached the crease before slotting a shot past the goalie. The sophomore’s goal in double overtime gave the team a dramatic win.

“That was an awesome moment,” team president Mack Wolschina said.

This season, SU’s club men’s lacrosse has made big strides. After playing an in-state schedule last season, the team expanded, scheduling games against teams outside of New York. Despite having a young roster, the Orange want to play better competition..

“Hopefully, as we grow our team, and increase our funding, we’ll enter more tournaments with bigger teams like Maryland, Ohio State and Penn State,” Wolschina said.

With the team growing in size, Wolschina wants to get the Syracuse community involved using fundraising so the team can travel around the northeast. The sophomore’s goals are to work with local charities and students to raise awareness about the team.

“I think that’ll be huge in terms of our recognition on campus, not only in terms of funding but people coming to our games as fans,” Wolschina said. “Maybe people who didn’t even realize that we had a club team (could come out). People saying ‘oh I kind of want to play lacrosse, I’ll come out (to play).’” from page men’s lacrosse

Next semester, Wolschina hopes to implement a philanthropy chair to organize fundraising for the team.

Previously, the awareness of the team was low, but Wolschina said he noticed a change. Friends and family traveled on the road to Fairfield and Albany, along with more students attending home games.

With word spreading, students like freshman Brendan McNama are choosing to join. McNama didn’t know SU had a club lacrosse team so he didn’t bring his equipment to school. He brought his equipment this semester after hearing his friends talk about how much they enjoyed playing.

12 boosted the Orange past No. 4 Villanova in the quarterfinals. Then, an upset win over No. 1 DePaul sent SU to the conference championship.

Against No. 3 Louisville, Caira held the Cardinals to one run in a 2-1 victory, clinching the program’s first-ever Big East Championship and NCAA Tournament berth. Caira was named the Big East Championship Most Outstanding Player and made the All-Tournament Team.

“It was the best. Period. It was an awesome, awesome tournament that gives me goosebumps every time I think about it,” Caira said.

Throughout the summer of 2010, Caira trained with Team Canada, inheriting valuable experience before returning to SU for her junior year. She felt much cleaner dotting the corners of the strike zone, getting ahead in the count, from page throughout the first half, blocking half of the 10 shots taken wat her. The Hokies’ Maura O’Malley would tie it 2-2 to start the second. But, shortly after, Megan Carney scored a textbook catch-and-score off a feed from Meaghan on the right. Sprinting laterally Carney collected and fired across her body in one fluid motion.

A few minutes later, Ward collected at her patented X position, finding Emma on the left of the crease. Emma faked once and then ducked under a defender. Maneuvering to the tip of the crease, she scored on a shot to the bottom right.